Compare mass shootings to opioid epidemic

South Broward High School students protest in front of their school in Hollywood, Fla., on Friday in response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that took 17 lives. Dorothy Edwards/USA TODAY NETWORK Feb. 16, 2018; Parkland, FL, USA; South Broward High School students protest in front of their school in response to a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday that took 17 lives. Mandatory Credit: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News via USA TODAY NETWORK(Photo: Dorothy Edwards / Naples Daily News-USA TODAY NETW)

All Americans should be extremely proud of the young people of Parkland School in Florida who are organizing a march in Washington, D.C., for gun control. They are justifiably outraged. They are right that adults have let them down. They say the slaughter must end in our schools, churches and public places. They are correct to call out the NRA as a source of the problem. They intend to give a “badge of shame” to governmental officials who accept NRA money.

The opioid epidemic is killing so many of our fellow Americans. Finally, some governmental leaders and pharmaceutical companies are trying to address the problem on many levels. There will be stricter regulations put in place. Most people know this is a complicated issue, not a simplistic one. They don’t just point to the user and say that’s the problem. Regulating the supply of opioids will help. There is another epidemic: mass shootings of innocent people. Lack of sane gun controls is a part of the problem that can be addressed. Regulating the supply in this situation can also help.

There are those who say that if a person wants a gun, they will get one. That may be a fact. But to use this as an excuse to do nothing is irresponsible. We are a “can do” nation of problem-solvers. For our children’s sake, let’s try.